Rest in Pieces
by Roby Carr
Summary: Two girls find that the world they were fine to just dream about is much more real than they expected. But when they actually get caught up in that world and are kidnapped by Magneto, there isn't much hope left. !oc-centric!
1. 1: Didn't Your Mother Ever Tell You?

"**Rest in Pieces**"  
By _Roby Carr  
_Part One: _Didn't Your Mother Ever Tell You...?_

-----

"There's more in the middle of an Egg McMuffin than an egg in the middle of a muffin," a smooth, soft voice chirped on that hot summer day. The temperature was about 102 degrees outside even in the town of Glen Ellyn in northern Illinois, but that didn't stop one sixteen-year-old from dragging her friend out the door into the stifling, still air and hiking on foot to the nearest gas station. Just like they had on every other day of the summer, the two girls were sitting in back of the mini-mart and devouring a pint of ice cream each with one of the plastic spoons from the box they'd hidden behind the dumpster. "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. Big Mac, Fillet O' Fish, Quarter Pounder, French fries, icy Coke, thick shake, sundaes and apple pie."

Before the singing girl could begin the song over again as she'd been doing for the past few hours, her friend clasped a hand over her mouth and glared intently at her. "Seriously Claire," she hissed, sounding more than annoyed, "I meant you should stop the first fifteen times I told you to 'shut the hell up'." The girl called Claire sent her friend a small apologetic smile but shrugged it off and tossed the empty ice cream carton into the dumpster. The other girl had finished a good ten minutes before.

"You're tired, aren't you, Jackie?" Claire asked, apparently already having forgiven her friend for the hostility moments ago. Jackie blinked at Claire; it was always strange how her older friend could have guessed that. All summer, Jackie had been the one with the energy when they went to the mini-mart, but this time she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and she didn't get to sleep in either - stupid little brothers.

Claire shrugged at her friend, mildly puzzled herself as to how she had guessed it though she didn't like it show. Claire draped one arm around Jackie and tugged her closed so that Jackie would rest her head on Claire's shoulder. Jackie looked a little unsure at first as to whether or not she should let her eyes settle shut, but eventually she closed them and relaxed against her best friend for once. Claire smiled to herself thoughtfully, as she realized they had just switched their normal roles. Usually Jackie would be the one forcing Claire to rest if she got tired on their way to the mini-mart or if she felt like she was overheating.

Taking the first good long look at her friend she had gotten all summer - Jackie never stopped moving long enough for Claire to notice any subtle differences -, Claire realized that Jackie looked like she'd spent the entire indoors, even though both had been outside for hours every day. Her skin was ghostly pale, definitely worse than its winter shade and this year her light brown hair had only slightly gotten blonde highlights from the sun, instead of turning into the tarnished-gold color Claire loved to see every summer. Jackie still wore the mostly black clothes that she had mourned her older brother's death in. Along with the black 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' t-shirt Claire had given her last Christmas, she wore baggy jeans dyed black, black high-tops, a large assortment of silver necklaces with crosses hanging on them and black-and-white arm warmers adorning her arms.

In comparison to Jackie's almost desperately obvious cry for help displayed in her clothing, Claire felt somewhat plain for the first time that summer, though hardly anyone else would describe her that way. Reddish-brown hair in ringlets framed a well tanned face from her several beach trips so far that summer, her eyes a pretty ordinary hazel. She wore the top piece of her swimsuit - a black tank-top - underneath a striped purple and white spaghetti-strap top and to cover her legs, a pair of running shorts underneath a plaid green, blue, red and gold skirt that had originally belonged to one of her friends who went to a private school. Once the girl came back to the public school system, she didn't need her uniform anymore and Claire had taken them free of charge. Adorning her feet were knee-high socks and a pair of leather, open-toed sandals.

"Claire... C'mon, let's go. I can't sleep out here. It's getting too hot out besides," Jackie's voice muttered from her shoulder as the tall girl pushed herself off Claire's shoulder and stood slowly up.

It didn't take Claire nearly half that time to already be up and headed for the exit, walking backwards as she chattered away until she rounded the corner and slammed into something very solid. A sharp ache passed through the bones in her back and she turned around, about to apologize. Instead, the only thing that came out of her mouth was a scream.

"Claire-Claire!" Jackie called, a sudden sense of worry overriding the heat exhaustion that had been on its way to her brain a moment ago, "What's wrong?" She didn't need to jog around the corner to see as Claire came into her vision and grasped her arm.

"Jackie," she panted, clearly shocked, "You'll never believe what I just saw! It's-"

"Colossal..."

"No! Not colossal, Colossus!" Claire corrected desperately.

Jackie gaped openly as she lifted the arm that Claire wasn't clasped onto and pointed at the path which Claire had come from. Standing there was a strange figure glinting in the sunlight. His entire body was coated in what seemed to be layers of steel. "Two words, Claire. Run. Away." Tugging at her best friend's hand, she quickly turned on a dime prepared to dash in the other direction, but realized without a moments hesitation that that exit was blocked too. A young man in a very strange Halloween costume was standing there, two flamethrowers spewing flame high up into the air above her.

Jackie could hear Claire whimper behind her. Obviously the prospect of facing the literal 'Man of Steel' and a pyromaniac in a fight didn't appeal to her. Jackie was the only one of the two with any fighting experience but the last time she'd attended karate classes was when she earned her green belt purple strip three months ago. She couldn't even remember the difference between a tornado kick and a forward thrust high kick. But none of this appeared to bother Jackie as a small confident smirk appeared on her face. 'Bluff,' she told herself, 'Psyche 'em out and take 'em down.'

"You take Metalhead. I'm on the fire freak," she told Claire. Claire's dimmed confidence level was obvious, but both girls struck up makeshift fighting stances. Jackie wanted to run. More than anything, she would have given the world to have been somewhere else - somewhere safe. She wasn't ready to be strong just for Claire's sake. She was so tired, but nothing moved her as she felt Claire shift slightly in her vigil against Metalhead. She however, just stared straight into Pyromaniac's fire. It was already licking at her face. Not close enough that it actually burnt, but near enough that beads of sweat already trickled down from her forehead and the thick, humid air made it harder to breathe.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with fire?" Jackie taunted Pyromaniac, trying not to let any emotion seep into her voice.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with boys who play with fire?" Pyromaniac replied good-naturedly, looking endlessly amused by Jackie's predicament.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you to take off your costume when Halloween's over?"

"Didn't your mother ever tell you to stop, drop and roll, sheila?" When Pyromaniac said this, Jackie looked confused for a minute before letting out a cry of pain and leaning down to beat out the flames on her left shoe.

"Asshole!" she shrieked, pain evident on her face, "What was that for?"

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to talk to strangers?" Pyromaniac snickered at his response, though it was certainly not the one Jackie had wanted.

"Wait... How did you do that?" Jackie couldn't ramble any farther, a baffled look on her face, before she moaned and dropped onto the pavement unconscious. A large ugly, wild-looking man stood behind her, a rock in one hand, obviously the weapon he used to knock out Jackie.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to hit a girl?" Pyromaniac asked Ugly, looking pleased.

"Shut up," Ugly told him.

Claire gasped as she watched this out of the corner of her eye, still mostly focused on Metalhead. She would have to act fast if she wanted to have any chance of taking on even one of these guys. She charged towards Metalhead, jutting her elbow as she jolted him in the stomach. The only thing that came out of this was a sharp pain up her arm and a confirmation of her suspicions. Metalhead was Colossus. So that meant the other two were...

Claire's eyes widened as another man stepped out from behind the wall. "Please," she begged, "don't kill me or Jackie. We can't get you any ransom money or nothing. Just let me take her home. I'll tell her it was all a dream, I'll never mention you-" Claire was cut off when the fourth man, this one in a trenchcoat, began to talk in a Cajun accent.

"You don' need t' be scared o' us, _cherie_. We ain't gonna hurt you, if we don' have t'," the Cajun told her, though Claire was still shaking in fear.

"You didn't have to hurt her!" she exclaimed, pointing down at Jackie's body, "She didn't hurt anybody yet!" The Cajun man just shrugged at his lack of explanation which did nothing to calm Claire's nerves. He took a step towards her and she cried out, frantically searching for any direction to head in. They were everywhere. There was the pyromaniac and his flamethrowers. Metalhead, who hurt her more by just standing there and letting her kick him than anything else. There was the ugly man who'd already proven he wasn't afraid to hurt someone. And then there was the Cajun who acted quite charmingly but carried a dangerous presence around with him. New Orleans was 'The City That Loves the Dead' after all.

"_Cherie_, you're gonna be comin', whether you want t' or not," the Cajun said simply, "I'm jus' tryin' t' be lookin' out f'r you. Dat's what I'm doing." He stepped forward, this time closing in on Claire and grasping her arm. He circled her, still keeping his word and being careful not to hurt her, making Claire that much more nervous. Goosebumps fled down her arms when she felt two of his fingers pressing against her back. But in a few moments time, it was dulling out. Her vision was distorted, the men's words were slurring and all her senses were becoming less and less receptive as she slowly blacked out.

And then it was all gone.

-----

Gambit caught Claire with a practiced grace as she fell back into his arms. He still carried her as he and Colossus joined the other two.

"Which one do we take?" Pyro asked good-naturedly, blinking down at the two girls. A small smirk was on his face, wishing that Jackie was still awake to see his easy victory. But if she wasn't unconscious than he wouldn't have been the winner. So he'd gloat later. "Magneto never said if we were supposed to get both of 'em."

"Grab 'em both," Sabretooth demanded, "If Magneto doesn't want one, we can just throw her out later." Colossus took Claire from Gambit's arms, settling her on one shoulder while Sabertooth did the same with Jackie - just in a bit more brutal way.

"Everything's just like it was when we came here, mates," Pyro announced, still looking just as cheerful as he had before.

"Then we will go?" Colossus asked. It was a question that didn't really need to be asked as the other three Acolytes headed away from the back parking lot, through unused alleyways and up into an abandoned building where they'd planned to spend the night and in the morning, head back to the Acolytes' base.

-----

Kitty Pryde squirmed impatiently on the sofa, reaching up to smooth out her hair for the fifth time in the last ten minutes. She was beginning to wonder if it would've been better if she'd worn her hair up in a ponytail like normal. She was waiting for her parents, Carmen and Rebecca Pryde, for the last half-hour; even though she knew they were going to be held up. They'd called from her hometown in Illinois earlier that morning to explain that their flight to Boston had been delayed, so even after they had arrived in Massachusetts, they would need to wait another fifteen minutes at least to get on the next train to Bayville. Her parents were coming to take her back to Illinois because - even though she had already informed them of her decision to go to Boston University - they wanted her to take a look at Northbrook Community College so she could be closer to home. Kitty however had two other things she wanted to be near to.

One was quite obvious - the X-men. The professor had offered Kitty the chance to become an official X-man now that she'd graduated from Bayville High, with the highest honors of valedictorian. Even though Kitty had refused the full-time job, she still wanted to be close enough so that she could drive to the Institute in an hour if they needed her. The other reason... well, the other reason was the boy sitting across from her.

Yes, it was her beau, Lance Alvers in all his fidgeting glory that had been the deciding factor in the metaphorical battle between her family and the X- men. After all that had happened throughout high school as they hid their mutant gifts and attempted to hide the Brotherhood's, she was proud that they were still together. It was amazing that their relationship had withstood that. So here they were, Lance about to meet her parents for the first time since he had- well, since he'd tried to lower a building on to all of them. That was the reason he was acting so nervous. Somehow, Kitty knew that a perky reunion wasn't going to happen between Lance and her parents. What she had to do was prove that Lance was a better guy now, even if he did still live with the Brotherhood boys.

"Kitty, Lance," a voice spoke and it was followed with Jean's entrance into the room, "Something's happening. Lance, would you mind heading home?"

"Hey! I-"

Jean didn't even give Lance a chance to protest as she strode into the room with an air of purpose around her. She placed her hand on Kitty's shoulder and said, "Lance, please. This is important. Kitty can call you later and explain." Lance was about to protest more, but this time Kitty stopped him by stepping forward and putting her arms around him.

"Go back to the boarding house, Lance. Nothing's going to gonna, like, change Jean's mind on this one," she kissed him on the cheek and grinned, "I'll call you, mutant's honor." Lance embraced her back quickly, not looking comfortable hugging her in front of Jean.

"See ya," he grumbled, shooting a glare towards Jean and heading out of the mansion to his Jeep.

"What's going on?" Kitty asked Jean, as they began to walk down the hall to the elevator leading down to Cerebro, "What about my parents? They were, like, supposed to get to know Lance today."

"Your parents called saying that the airport cancelled all of today's flights because the entire airport is on the fritz. Metal is melting and after planes have landed they'll pick themselves up about five feet in the air and suddenly drop. It's dangerous. Your parents are going to find a different time to come," Jean summarized in a no-nonsense tone, "The professor thinks that this is all happening because Magneto is in the area."

"Magneto? In Illinois?" Kitty asked, "Why?"

"We don't know," Jean replied, "There isn't any evidence as to why he'd go there. He's far north of Chicago, so we don't think it has anything to do with that city. In fact, we aren't actually sure that Magneto is anywhere near Illinois. All we have are the reports from several different airports and other businesses around the location where Cerebro pinpointed the DNA matches of Gambit, Colossus, Sabretooth and Pyro. They're in a town called Glen Ellyn." Jean sighed and shook her head, pushing her red hair back behind her shoulders. "So that's who we're after instead. The professor wants to find out from one of the other Acolytes what Magneto's plan is, but he doubts that we'll get there before they've gone back to their base. So instead, he wants you, Logan, Evan and me to head down there and find out what we can."

Kitty nodded, though she was still confused. If they weren't hitting Chicago, then why would Magneto and the others go to Illinois? It didn't make sense to Jean or the professor obviously, but she still felt like there was one important piece of the puzzle they were missing.

But she didn't have much time to dwell on this as she quickly packed an extra pair of clothes and - because there was no time to change into it - her uniform into a backpack. She and Jean joined Evan and Logan down at the X-jet and the four X-men boarded, Logan in the pilot's seat, Jean in the co- pilot's. Evan took a chair at the back of the jet where he settled in almost immediately with the gory action novel the boys at the Institute had been passing around. It was probably the first book he'd picked up all year, but Evan was obsessed. Kitty tried to settle into the seat behind Logan, but she felt her intuition telling her that they were already too late. Magneto and the Acolytes were gone; along with whatever it was they wanted.

-----

_.......REVIEW_

a/n; Already, I'm feeling a good vibe on this story considering the fact that I know the characters so well. I finally got around to reading some really good X-men: Evolution fanfiction and I got my hands on my cousin Phil's X-men comics. Plus, Claire and Jackie do happen to be self-inserts. Claire is myself and Jackie is basically a mixture of all my best friends. But don't worry, no romance is expected by me and I plan on working really, REALLY hard so they don't become the cookie cutter, "like-me-only-better", Mary Sue-style self inserts. I have many scenes in my head worked out - a bunch of which don't even have Claire and Jackie in them. So please keep reading. Flame me if it makes you feel better. Which brings me to my next point...

REVIEW FOR ME PLEASE! I BEG OF THEE! PLEASE, OH PLEASE! REVIEW!

That done with, I'd like to inform everyone that since the school year will end in less than a month's time, the Powerpointers and I have become tighter once again and there is yet another member of our ever, expanding group. Her name's Obsidian Lee and she's the... counts ...seventh human member of our group? Oh, I don't know. Let's see: Roby Carr, Blizzard of the White, Solo Linkin, Chrono of the White, Pip Raye, Raquel Opaque and now Obsidian Lee. And we have another girl who hasn't officially joined yet, so that might be eight. Anyway, I think I'll finally get working on these unfinished fics I have laying around... cheers come from audience ...but that means no new fics for a while. more cheers from the audience You all hate me...

REVIEW FOR ME PLEASE! I BEG OF THEE! PLEASE, OH PLEASE! REVIEW! (yeah, had to do that again.)

Shalom to the world!

_.......REVIEW_

- Roby Carr


	2. 2: Captured By Alien Candy Canes

"**Rest in Pieces**"  
By _Roby Carr  
_Part Two: _Captured By Alien Candy Canes_

-----

When the X-jet landed in a forest just outside Glen Ellyn, Illinois, it was apparent to every one of the X-men aboard that the Acolytes had been there - though the signs were much different than they had originally expected. In fact, the forest and every building were just as intact as they should have been for a small clean town like Glen Ellyn. None of Pyro's trademark burns haunted the buildings nor any of the people who inhabited them. As they entered the town, no one was babbling about a cat- or metal-man. In fact, not one person at all was talking about anything off the topic of the sudden disappearance of two teenaged girls.

The closer Ororo got to the police station, the more jumbled the information coming from random citizens became. Sometimes the rumors sounded like they could be true, like when they passed a mother telling her husband that the two girls had said they would be back in an hour and didn't return. But other rumors sounded like simply that. Rumors. An old woman was busy calming an old man as he attempted to explain that he had eye-witnessed the entire thing. Then he proceeded in explaining that the girls were simply walking down the street when they had been abducted up into a flying hamburger by giant alien candy canes.

"He's always been a bit odd," the woman reassured them before ushering the man away, apologizing profusely.

By the time they had poked, prodded, shoved, and 'excuse me'-ed themselves to the front of the line - with help from Logan when several annoying preteen boys refused to get out of their way -, Ororo had gathered that the girls' names were Claire and Jackie and that both had just finished ninth grade at Glen Ellyn Public High School. The story of how they had disappeared was a mystery though. Apparently, everyone else in town had been doing something at the presumed time, leaving the girls alone.

"Oh yeah," Evan muttered, "With all the burning buildings and hysteric people, this just screams 'Acolytes were here!'" His sarcasm was so drippingly obvious that Kitty actually elbowed him in the gut and stuck her tongue out at him.

"If you're so smart, you should have already, like, found them, Evan!" she retorted and trailed after the two adults. Evan just glared at her backside, wanted so desperately to have Scott here instead of him. He was never actually much for going on these little missions and probably wound never have come to the mansion in the first place if Professor X hadn't agreed to pay his bail in exchange for that. Or as he liked to think of it - the professor blackmailed him into coming.

Ororo pushed open the doors to the police station, finding it to be very busy. The only one hardly working was a young woman sitting at a pine desk at the very front of the room, right next to the turnstile that let people through the brick half-wall that separated the lobby part of the station from the rest of it.

"Excuse me," the white-haired woman asked as she strode over to the desk, Logan at her side.

The young woman heaved a huge sigh and began speaking into the phone she was holding, "Yeah, Jessica? Get this, there are people here. I know! So, I've gotta go. Well duh! Of course I'm calling you back, Jess! Okay, later!" Setting the receiver back on its hook, she gazed up at them with big, annoyed eyes and began in an exasperated tone, "Welcome to the Glen Ellyn Law Enforcement Offices. Is there anything in particular that I can help you with, maam and/or sir?"

"Yes," Ororo continued, giving her the biggest smile she could work up after being insulted, "We'd like to speak to someone about the two girls who've disappeared."

"What? Like do you want me to take you to the room where they're taking statements from everyone Claire and Jackie knew?"

"That would be wonderful," Ororo replied and moved towards the turnstile.

"Can't."

"Why not?" Logan growled. For the last ten minutes he had allowed Ororo to take charge. She had driven the X-jet, landed it properly and gotten them through the crowd and into this place. But obviously he would be the one needed to get them any farther with their mission.

The woman let out another bored sigh. Her eyes darted to the telephone, no doubt that her mind was already on how she would tell Jessica about the 'losers who came in and totally bothered her'. "Because," she told Logan, hardly disturbed by his slight anger, "I'm not just allowed to let in anyone to jump in on the biggest case our police have worked on all year. State patrol already has pictures and is on the lookout."

"We're not just anyone," Logan snapped back, "I'm part of state patrol." He jutted his thumb towards Ororo. "She'd a private detective contacted by the state to work this case."

"Who're they?" the woman asked, her eyes on Evan and Kitty. They were lingering back by the door, still bickering under their breaths.

Logan didn't even have to take a moment to think before replying, "Her interns. They stay out here."

"Hey!" Kitty and Evan replied in unison.

"I am so not going to stay out here! I like totally deserve to be in there!"

"Yeah! Me too!"

"They stay," Logan repeated, his voice dangerously soft, "C'mon 'Ro."

The young woman rose and led the two adults through the turnstile and into the mass of ever-moving officers beyond that. The last Evan saw of his aunt was her white hair as she turned the corner. It was then that an elbow struck his gut once more and he bent over, Kitty glaring at him above.

"This is so your fault that we can't go!"

-----

Jackie unconsciously gave a soft moan as she sat up, having forgotten just about everything that had happened. What was the last thing that had happened? It was... Claire! She and Claire were heading out of Claire's house after telling Claire's mom that they were headed to the nearest "Stop and Go" to get exercise. Or at least that had been their excuse. But what had happened after that? Had she been hit by a bicycle and lost part of her memory of the day? Maybe... But if that had happened, she would either be in the hospital, Claire's house or her own home, with Claire's ringlet-framed face looking down on her.

And she most certainly wasn't in any of those places. She was in a large circular, dome-shaped room with metal walls. Besides a black door in one wall that had no handle, there was absolutely nothing in that room. No bed, or refrigerator with food inside for her to eat. Not even chains to hold her down, or bars to a cage. It for sure wasn't a suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City, but it didn't seem to be any sort of prison or dungeon either.

"But I hear that most jail cells come equipped with a thirty-two inch high-definition television and internet in this day and age..."

Even though there was no one there to laugh at her horrible joke, Jackie still felt like she heard voices giggling and she laughed along with them. Maybe that was why she was here. She was insane. So insane that they gave her a room that had yet to be padded...

"Claire?" she asked suddenly. A strong urge had simply come over her to check if her friend was there. For some reason she was so worried about Claire. She didn't know why, but her gut instinct told her that Claire was certainly in trouble. Deep, deep trouble.

"Claire-Claire?" Jackie repeated, louder this time, "C'mon Claire! Please be here!"

But Claire didn't respond. Not in Jackie's head, not in real life. Claire wasn't there. So why was Jackie so damn worried?

Probably for the same reason that Jackie was the slightest bit worried about her own behind. She couldn't find her best friend, she didn't know where she was, she had a strong feeling that she was going to die in this hellhole and never see her family and friends again. Not even her crazy old grandfather who was always talking about aliens that looked like candy canes and hamburger spaceships or her grandmother who loved him anyway.

"Oh God..."

-----

"_Cherie_," a soft, slightly husky voice murmured and Claire felt fingertips brush across her cheek. She smiled to herself, safe within her own half-conscious world where she and Jackie had had no problems returning from the gas station. Nuzzling up to the careful touch, Claire sighed happily and her eyes fluttered slowly open. She felt a bit disoriented in her current state of mind though she was becoming slightly more concious as a bright light flooded her eyes. Turning to face the person next to her, Claire expected someone she knew well and had cared about for a long time. She expected maybe her older brother, Nathan attempting to wake her or Jackie messing with her head.

But what she most certainly did not expect was a young man from Cajun-country sitting next to her, leaning against the wall and letting her cuddle up against his warm body. The man's bright red eyes wear on her already and he looked plenty calm.

It was then that earlier events came flooding back to her. Colossus, then Pyro, Sabertooth knocking out Jackie, and finally Gambit and his promise not to hurt her. Jackie! Where was Jackie? How long had Claire been out? What about her mother? Anya Roberts would never forgive herself if she found out that she had lost her only daughter, her baby. Claire needed to get home as soon as possible. No, no. She needed to get home now.

And her father and Nathan? Nate would stay out all night searching the nearby woods if he had too. Her dad would skip work to help Nate search until the two had found Claire and Jackie. Oh God, she should have fought back. Or ran for help. Maybe if Claire could get just one person to believe that her favorite cartoon had come to life, maybe they would've helped her. If she hadn't been such a wimp-

"_Cherie_?" Gambit began, "Thought you'd be talkin' bit more."

It was these words that shocked Claire into remembering where she was and who it was that she was still leaning dependently on.

Shoving Gambit away as hard as she could, Claire found that she was suddenly anything but tongue-tied. How dare he touch her like that! Holding her up against him and pretending that it was normal behavior for perfect strangers. Even though Claire probably knew Gambit about just as well as he knew himself. It was still entirely inappropriate.

"Get away from me!" she shrieked, "Stay away from me! You're a cretin and a... a..." It was rather obvious that Claire was having a bit of trouble coming up with another insult for Gambit, so she settled on something factual and cruel. "And you are a freak of nature! You are a mutant!"

Gambit did nothing but blink as he stood to face the now standing Claire. One of her ringlets had escaped her headband and Gambit shrugged at her insult, reaching out to push the hair back into place. Claire jerked away though and stumbled backwards over the shiny metal floor. In fact the entire room just seemed to be a dome of metal with nothing in it what-so-ever.

"I demand you take me home!" she cried angrily and raced to a black door set into the curving wall. But there was nothing on it, no handle, no keypad... Not even any decoration.

"_Cherie_, I can't jus' bring you back. Magneto needs you," Gambit explained patiently, walking towards Claire to calm her down. She was almost going into hysteria as she heard this.

"My mom and dad will be so worried though..." she moaned softly, dropping to her knees in defeat. It was quite apparent that out of the two girls Magneto wanted, this one was the easier to manipulate. That could work to Gambit's own advantage instead of just Magneto's.

"Don' worry, _cherie_," he told her, "Gambit'll be lookin' out f'r you."

With that, the man headed towards the down and it opened by lifting up and inwards. He ducked under and stepped out into the hallway. As suddenly as it had opened, the door slammed shut and Claire broke down in tears.

Her mother, her father, Nathan... Jackie...

"Oh Jackie..." she moaned, "I'm so sorry. Now I bet you're stuck here with the Acolytes too, aren't you? I'm just so sorry, Jackie." She groaned and fell back. Jackie was scared and angry. And she was also worried about Claire. The redhead could feel it deep within her heart. Jackie would be thinking she was going insane. Oh poor, poor Jackie.

"Help me..."

-----

"Help me..."

Ororo stopped dead in her tracks and glanced back down the empty hall where she saw the figure of a pretty, girl with rusty ringlets framing her face. She wore a skirt and she was leaning against the wall toying with one of her many thick curls. The girl glanced up and mouthed something as Ororo was overcome by a deep sense of regret and worry.

"'Ro?" she heard Logan asked from down the hall where he had paused with the young woman from the desk, "Nothin's there. You comin'?"

"Yes..." she murmured and glanced back down the hall, but the girl was gone and she was wondering if she had imagined it. She tailed Logan down the next hall and another until the trio reached a room near the back of the building. It was much larger than Ororo had expected it to be, but once they stepped inside, she found out why. The room was stuffed with people - civilians and police officers. Along the walls were long tables covered with papers and computers.

"Alison?" a woman with dark brown hair and olive skin asked the young woman who had led them here, "I thought I told you that no one was to come here unless they were working on the case or had been asked for. Who are these people?"

"He's with State Patrol and she's a detective of the state assigned to our case," Alison explained quickly, her eyes darting to the door, "So I'm gonna go now, okay?" She didn't bother to wait for an answer before sprinting out of the loud room.

"My name is Ororo Munroe," Ororo introduced herself, "This is Logan."

"Commissioner Juliana Mortiarty," the woman replied, her voice strong and no-nonsensical, "Feel free to talk to anyone working on the case or anyone else who may provide valuable information. Report any leads to me immediately. This is the biggest scandal in ten years." Juliana looked like she meant to say something more, but she was called over by a young man working at a computer.

Logan glanced around the room and grasped Ororo's elbow tightly, murmuring, "We'll talk to the girls' family. If nothin' seems suspicious, we head back to the Institute pronto and report to Chuck that we didn't find any evidence that the Acolytes weren't just dropping by town for a visit."

"Logan, the Acolytes would never just stop by for-"

"That's our plan. Let's stick to it."

"Hey there," a young male voice asked and Ororo glanced to here side where two young men - both about high school age, though one was definitely older - were standing and looking rather annoyed, "Look, I'm sort of busy with the whole 'go-find-my-little-sister-instead-of-sitting-around-like-an-idiot' thing. Ms. Moriarty said that if I finished talking to you guys, I could finally leave this dump and look for her."

"Who the hell are you?" Logan growled, annoyed both the young man's complete and total utter lack of respect what-so-ever."

"He's Nathan Roberts," the other boy explained, more calmly though his eyes kept darting to the door and it was obvious the only reason he was being remotely respectful towards them was to get the two girls back, "Just finished his senior year at Glen Ellyn High, heading to Chicago University next fall. Claire was his little sister."

"She still is my little sister, idiot!" Nathan grunted, and glanced at Ororo, "Call me Nate."

The other boy rolled his eyes, "Whatever, sure. She is his little sister. And she's my girlfriend. I'm Brenden Kelly, to-be eleventh grader at the same high school."

"Logan and Ororo," Logan replied quickly, "Who's this Claire girl?"

"God damnit!" Nathan almost shouted, "She's the one who got kidnapped! Claire Lilian Roberts and Jackie Edith Kelly-Goss!"

"Sorry, we haven't been given much information on the case yet, so we're going off a very raw outline," Ororo covered, "Were you two also close to Jackie?"

Brenden shook his head. "Nate was, but I wasn't. She, Claire and I have carpooled for a while together, but other than that, I only knew her as Claire's best friend."

"So, they were both best friends and disappeared at presumably the same time in the same place," Ororo mumbled and glanced at Nathan, "So you were close to Jackie then?"

"She was like another little sister to me. Her older brother, Anders. He's six-feet-under now but he was my best friend when he was alive."

"How did he die?" Ororo found herself asking.

"Car accident, coming home from an alcohol party," Brenden said when Nate just glanced away, "It was a different driver though. Anders never drank much. Why does it matter?"

"Procedure," Logan grunted, "Don't question us."

"Logan!" Ororo reprimanded, "So, when did you two last see the girls?"

"Two nights ago," Brenden replied immediately, "I was with Claire on a date at the movies and Jackie was there with a bunch of little boys. Probably her little brothers."

"When they left the house on that day..." Nate recalled hollowly, "I could've stopped them from heading out to the gas station, but they always do it, so it seemed fine. Claire asked me to tell Mom where they were going and Jackie looked really tired. It's my fault they were out."

"It isn't anyone's fault," Ororo corrected, "The probably would have gone even if you did try to stop them."

"Can I head out to check around for Claire and Jackie, now?" Nate asked and grinned as Ororo nodded, "Maybe you aren't the bad cop. Here." He paused and picked up a black sheet of paper and a pen from the nearest paper. Scribbling something on it, he said, "It's my home and cell numbers. You might already have my home phone, but no one ever asked me for my cell. Don't hesitate to call with more questions." Nate turned and headed out the door, leaving the duo alone with Brenden.

"There's something you should know that I was sure about tell the other police. It still seems kind of stupid," Claire's boyfriend began, reaching up to flatten his messy light brown hair.

"What is it?" Ororo asked, feeling that perhaps Logan was right and their search may have come to a dead end here. These type of things always happened in New York and Massachusetts, as sad as it was.

"Claire said something that I though was kind of weird the other day on our date," Brenden explained softly, "We were in the mall's Food Court eating cheeseburgers and talking about how Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel shouldn't have been ended so suddenly. Then she said that her favorite show had just been cancelled too and that these days all that was on TV was stupid crud. It was what she said next that was weird though. She randomly mentioned something about "finding Pyro, Gambit, Colossus and Sabretooth." But she just began talking about Angel again like she had never mentioned any of that."

"Pyro, Gambit, Colossus and Sabretooth?" Logan growled, his eyes brightening at the obviousness of this hint. Had Magneto used Mastermind to force Claire to say that, knowing that when the X-men came after the Acolytes, they would find themselves questioning this boy? Perhaps Mastermind was even controlling this boy right now to make sure that they found out? But why? "Oh, I would say that just might be a clue."

"Yeah, that was exactly what Claire said," Brenden replied.

"We've got to be going," Ororo said and this time she grasped Logan's elbow.

"You've only talked to me and Nate though."

"I wouldn't be this important of a detective if I wasn't good at my job," Ororo told him and turned for the door.

"Wait!" Like Nate, Brenden scribbled some phone numbers down on a piece of paper and handed it to Ororo. "Call me about anything. And take this." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a wallet, opening it and pulling out a piece of a picture that had been cut out. It was a photo of a young girl with auburn ringlets and a pretty face clinging to Brenden as they posed on a beach. "That's Claire in the picture. If you see her, now you'll recognize her. Sorry I don't have a photo of Jackie on me, but you guys can probably get one somehow."

Ororo followed Brenden's example and in flowing, cursive handwriting, she wrote out her cell phone number and handed it to Brenden, "Phone us up if you find anything out. Ask around if anyone knows anything strange either of the girls has said before about those four names."

Not waiting to be asked for an explanation, Ororo led Logan out of the room, glad to be dropping the policewoman facade for a while as they wound their way back to the front room where Alison was chattering away on the telephone to Jessica and Evan and Kitty were waiting frustratedly on a bench. Seeing the adults, they hopped up, wanting to hear some answers but as they passed, Logan hissed, "Not here."

So the four X-men headed back to the X-jet where both Kitty and Evan were filled in on what had been heard in the room, just as Professor Xavier would be hearing very soon.

-----

_.......REVIEW_

a/n; Whee! I actually LIKE a story for once and the only thing that can stop me from writing a third chapter is if my computer fries. And I do mean fry. When I came home and attempted to turn it open, it wouldn't work so I brought it to Best Buy. They checked it out and - Lord behold! - most of it was melted on the inside! So, now I finally have my new computer whom I have named "Sheila" after my favorite tank from... RED V.S. BLUE! Gawd, I love that movie! I considered naming that computer Church, Tucker, Caboose, Sarge, Grif, Donut, Simmons, Lopez, Tex and Doc but none of them really fit. Not even 'the Puma' or 'the Warthog' fit it right. So I turned to the only thing left, Sheila! And it worked! W00t!

So... I have a feeling I should say something important so here goes...

REVIEW FOR ME PLEASE! I BEG OF THEE! PLEASE, OH PLEASE! REVIEW!

No, seriously, please review. Even if it means you want to flame me because Logan didn't talk in this chapter, because none of the New Recruits (whom I normally center on) are in the fic yet, or because Pyro, Colossus, Sabretooth, Pietro, Wanda, Scott, insert name here, etcetera hasn't been in here enough. Because of course, there is never enough of Scott's freakin' self-proclaimed leader, choir boy ass in any fic! No, I'm not kiddin'. I really do like Scott. Really. Anywho, please. IF YOU HAVE SEEN RED VERSUS BLUE, TELL ME! I'm actually considering writing a Red V.S. Blue fanfic and I want to know if anyone would read it.

Oh and again...

REVIEW FOR ME PLEASE! I BEG OF THEE! PLEASE, OH PLEASE! REVIEW!

Heh. Heh. Heh. Yeah, I'll shut up soon. Someone said that no one likes self-insert fics. I think that was like the only person who reviewed, but really that wasn't a very good flame. She/he forgot to leave the CAPS LOCK on. Besides, I like writing self-insert fics and two of my friends found my fic without my actually telling them about it and they liked it well enough, so I don't really care. If people aren't going to read a well-written fic (which I'm praying mine is), then I blame them for being closed-minded idiots. One Mary Sue can ruin a fic, but a good original character (or a non-Mary Suey self-insert) can make a fic. As you can see, despite the weird scene in this chapter and the fact that something might happen between Gambit and Claire in a later chapter, she has a boyfriend and he actually isn't into her at all. In fact, he's sorta got a flirty thang goin' on wit Rogue. THEY WILL NEVER BECOME OFFICIALLY ROMANTICALLY INVOLVED AND THEY WILL CERTAINLY NOT END UP TOGETHER! Thank you. Jackie'll also soon get here chance to shine, as Claire is currently upstaging her a little. Don't worry. Everything will end up better than you expect.

Promising good things and yelling "GO CHINA!" at the top of her lungs.

_.......REVIEW_

- Roby Carr


	3. 3: Eeek? Sounds About Right

"**Rest in Pieces**"  
By _Roby Carr  
_Part Three: _Pyro, Gamgee, Sabertooth Tiger and Colossol... Oh My!_

-----

"So that was what you found out?" Charles Xavier asked Logan and Ororo as Evan and Kitty sat to the side, listening to the exchange. Both adults had finished explaining the disappearance of two seemingly random girls until they found that one, a girl named Claire Roberts, had some sort of connection to four of the six Acolytes. Nothing else really clicked though, Professor Xavier had to admit to himself. When he had ran tests through Cerebro, searching for both active and inactive X-genes, he had been given results showing that Glen Ellyn had no mutants.

"So, Chuck, what's the verdict?" Logan grunted, glancing down at the professor.

"Yeah, Professor, we, like, totally should get going on chasing after the Acolytes if you, like, this they're behind the kidnapping," Kitty agreed. Both she and Evan stood and joined the adults at Xavier's desk.

"Alright. Logan, I want you, Scott, Jean and Bobby to wait for my instructions. I'll be searching for the Acolytes and when I find them I want your team on it. Ororo, you take Kitty and Evan back to Glen Ellyn. We need more information for Jackie, especially to see if she has any connections to anything mutant what-so-ever. Make sure you speak to their parents this time," Xavier ordered, "Beast and I will be back here at the Institute directing all of you. It's very likely that the Acolytes may have had something to do with the disappearance of Claire Roberts and Jackie Kelly-Goss. If so, for the safety of those girls, they must be returned to Glen Ellyn as soon as possible. The Acolytes have done some horrible things, but I certainly never expected a kidnapping."

Logan nodded and Kitty and Evan followed him to the door. Evan paused, glancing back at his aunt, but she waved him on and he closed the door behind him.

"Charles," Ororo began, "You should know that something happened in the Glen Ellyn Police Station. I feel that it may help you with finding when these girls are, if you know about this."

"Yes?" Xavier prompted. Ororo looked somewhat reluctant to continue, more than likely because she doubted Charles would still believe she was mentally stable after telling him this. She continued anyway though.

"As we were heading down the halls to the interrogation room, I was positive that I heard someone calling for help and, when I glanced back down the hall, I was certain I saw a girl standing there. When she looked up at me, I felt so sad and hopeless despite the fact that moments before I'd been feeling fine. Logan called to me and when I glanced back to the girl, she was gone. The strangest part was, later Claire's boyfriend gave me a picture of her and without a doubt, she is the same person I saw in that hallway."

"Mm hmm..." Xavier said, as an idea sparked into his head with this story, "Ororo, may I borrow that photograph for a while?"

Ororo slid the picture over to Xavier and he smirked at the girl's face. Ororo headed for the door and Xavier followed, heading once again towards Cerebro, his thoughts churning endlessly.

-----

"Hello?" Jackie screeched for probably the thirteenth time that minute. For the past hour she'd been doing this. She would screech out either something logical - or once in a while for fun, something completely random - and then press her ear up against the cold steel walls of her prison, attempting to listen for any noise what-so-ever. She had heard footsteps as someone passed the room she was kept in, and one a husky male voice speaking to someone else, so she knew, eventually, someone would have to answer. Or so she hoped.

"C'mon, you assholes! Pickle juice! Rabbit foot! Fool's gold! Cock-a-doodle-doo!" the mouse-brunette girl shouted hoarsely, narrowing pretty almond-shaped eyes at the door, which she still couldn't figure out how to open, "Damnit! Just answer my questions and I'll do whatever you want, I swear it! I just want to know what's going on!"

She paused, remembering her old, crazed grandfather. Anytime he even whispered anything, he had _everyone's_ attention. Time to take out a page out of his lunatic book.

"GIANT ALIEN CANDY CANES IN HAMBURGER SPACESHIPS!" she screamed, clenching her eyes shut and trying to ignore her throat's protests to calling so loudly. Jackie sank to the floor, eyes still closed as she held her breath, praying silently.

'_Oh, c'mon Gramps... This just has to work. Please save me here... I need you right now, Granddaddy, and I forgive you for being so weird... Please, Lord..._'

"Well, aren't you the strange one." Jackie's bright green eyes snapped open and focused on the door, which was quickly opening inwards and up. It was obviously working electronically, for the moment the man stepped inside, it shut.

'_I love you so much right now Grandpa._'

"Who the hell are-" Jackie began, stopping short as she got a good look at the man standing in front of her. Though dressed much more... humanly than before, this was most certainly the same man who'd set fire to her socks. Her ankle still hurt from the slight burn from that, in fact. "You bastard!" she shrieked without warning, fists clenching at her sides, "You're that same asshole that permanently scarred my leg."

"Oh, come on!" he replied, striding forward, "It was hardly that bad. The X-kids can take it, so can you, mate."

"Look, I don't know if you're insane or what. But obviously, you aren't from America, so I've got a little somethin'-somethin' to tell you about the USA. Here, we don't let men run around on the streets with flamethrowers and we don't _ever_ let men kidnap high school girls and get away with it. I want to know where Claire is right now and I want you to let us both go!" Jackie demanded, glaring at the man through almond-eyes.

"Hello, my name is Pyro. Who're you?"

"ARE YOU STUPID?" she cried, strutting forward and grasping Pyro by his shoulders fearlessly. Okay, she survived the first encounter and in a place like this, _did it really matter whether or not she survived the next_? Of course! But that wasn't really the point, "My name is Jacklyn Edith Kelly-Goss of Glen Ellyn High School, daughter of Gordon and Katie Kelly-Goss and sister of the late Anders Kelly-Goss, may he rest in peace. Got that? I've got PEOPLE who WANT me back at my HOME! You won't get away with it."

"No, I won't, shiela."

"What is wrong with you!"

"Magneto will get away with it though."

"Who the hell is Magneto?"

"I'm a mutant."

"Mutants do not exist!"

"You're a mutant."

"No, I am not!"

"I've got to go now, mate. Perhaps we can chat again, sooner or later."

"What?"

With this, Pyro turned on his heel and headed for the door, a completely confused and stupefied Jackie was left in his wake, gaping like a fish out of water. He paused at the door, waiting for it to open, ducked under and disappeared as the door snapped shut.

"Uh... Wait!" Jackie shouted at the door, a little too late. Her head was spinning with the amazing amount of information that idiot had managed to cram inside in the span of three minutes.

'_What's a mutant? Am I a mutant? Is he really a mutant? Is Magneto a mutant? Who the hell is Magneto anyway? Is he more crazy than Granddaddy? Who're the X-kids? Do they have school where he's from? He could so not have passed kindergarten. What about his country's laws? If I shoot him once I get out of here, I could probably get away with it at this rate._'

And that was only the beginning of the madness in there as she stared at the closed door, her mouth still gaping and her eyes hardly able to blink.

"The hell?"

-----

"Hey," Ororo heard a familiar voice say as she entered the interrogation room once again, finding it much less crowded than the last time she was here. Armed with a notebook, ballpoint pen and her two 'interns', Ororo was now ready to do some digging on the Acolytes' apparent interest in these girls.

Ororo glanced over to see the friendly face and lanky body of Brenden Kelly, grinning at her like a maniac. It was almost seven hours since they had been there around eleven o' clock that morning and Brenden was still there, not looking like he might be leaving anytime soon. The boy looked persistent, like he might actually spend the night here at the station if he was asked to do so.

Pressing down on his messy hair and failing miserably at making the light brown mess look the slightest bit presentable, Brenden said, "Remember me? Brenden Kelly - we were talking earlier today. I'm glad you came back. I left a little while after you did to go check if Nate was back at the Roberts' house yet and-" He paused, his dark brown eyes flitting suspiciously over to both Kitty and Evan slightly behind Ororo, still a little miffed at each other.

"Evan, Kitty," Ororo said, gesturing towards where a few police officers were now speaking with the 'crazy' old man and the old woman she'd seen that morning, "Why don't you both go and ask around about Jackie while I talk to Brenden about Claire?"

Both X-men looked ready to protest having to leave such a juicy conversation just as it was getting good, but Ororo shot them the type to look that said 'go-or-see-Logan-when-we-get-back'. Grumbling under her breath, Kitty and Evan moved off to find someone to talk to instead.

"Interns," Ororo explained quickly, "Please Brenden, continue. You went back to Claire and Nate's house and then what happened?"

"Well," Brenden began, "I poked inside - you know, I had a key since I'm always the one feeding their cat when they head out to Chicago for the weekend - and suddenly, it popped into my head that I hadn't checked my email in a while, so I headed upstairs to go online with their computer. I go on Claire's computer all the time, she doesn't mind. But while I was clicking into Internet Explorer, a couple of Claire's folders caught my eye and I couldn't help but pry. I know it wasn't right and all, but I just went in and flipped through some of her Microsoft Word files."

Brenden hesitated, glancing around, probably thinking that Nate would wring his neck if he found out that Brenden was poking through Claire's stuff.

"Go on." Ororo smiled reassuringly and Brenden gave her that wild grin again.

"So I used that tool - you know, the one where you type in a word and it searches the whole document for the word? - and there was this one document that had all four of those names in it. What were they again? Pyro, Gamgee, Sabertooth Tiger and Colossol?" Brenden shook his head and tugged off his trucker hat before pulling it back on again. "I had them written down somewhere or I wouldn't even have a clue."

"Brenden, the document," Ororo persisted, placing one hand on the tall teenager's shoulder and forcing his to look down at her, "What did it say?"

"I didn't read it," Brenden said, shrugging, "I was printing it out for you, but I had to leave it at Claire's house because it was only halfway done printing when Mrs. Roberts called me up on my cell phone and said that my own mom was wondering where I'd been all morning. I totally forgot that I had to pick up my truck from the shop."

"Where's Claire's house?" Ororo asked and Brenden looked a bit confused for a moment.

"It's hard to explain. Can I drive you there?"

Ororo sighed in relief, glancing over at the brunet boy in a trucker hat and jeans. Brenden Kelly had just become her angel in disguise.

"Yes, please. As soon as possible."

"My truck's just outside."

-----

Charles Xavier sat alone in a giant metal room, hooking himself up to Cerebro. His mind was calm as usual despite the more than unusual complications. He had never expected Erik to stoop to the level of kidnapping two girls who didn't even seem all that special. Which was why he was turning to Cerebro once again. He had the photograph of Claire Roberts now and he would work even harder to check the citizens of Glen Ellyn for active or in-active X-genes.

"Claire Roberts... If you are a mutant, than how did you escape Cerebro?" Xavier murmured to himself and closed his eyes focusing. The screen in front of him lit up and the brain wave patterns of millions of people from all over the world bombarded Professor Xavier.

-----

"You there! Boy!"

Evan almost cried out in surprise as a small bony hand grasped his arm, the grip surprisingly strong considering who was holding onto him. A very short and rather ugly old man was staring at him through increasingly pale blue eyes. Next to Evan, Kitty looked almost grossed out by the strange old man.

"Uh, can we, like, help you?" she asked hesitantly, glancing back towards where she and Evan had left Ororo, but both the weather witch and the boy she was speaking with were gone.

"Not you, wench! Him! Boy, you've seen them, haven't you?" the old man was surprisingly loud and his voice was high-pitched, almost squeaking so high that Evan could no longer hear him, "You've seeeeeeen them!"

A woman hobbled up, using a cane to walk and looking both worried and embarrassed. "Oh, do tell me he hasn't gone off on another rant about those _things_," she groaned, her voice softer and calmer, reminding Evan of his Auntie O, though older and more tired, "I hope he hasn't insulted either of you. My husband, Jonathan, he gets like this sometimes and then he just doesn't stop for hours. It's all because Jaclyn's gone, I tell you. If that poor girl hadn't gotten lost, he might have his head today-"

"You know Jackie?" Evan asked, slowly managing to pry his hand out of the creepy old man's grip.

"Why, she's my granddaughter," the old woman replied, "My name is Edith Kelly and my daughter is Katherine Kelly-Goss and her daughter is Jaclyn Kelly-Goss. And if that girl isn't the rudest young woman I have met in ages! Jaclyn is going to have quite the bit of trouble finding herself a man if she continues to wear those tomboyish outfits. Really! No young woman should be wearing boys' jeans, especially if they belonged to her dead brother-"

"Well," Kitty interrupted, seeing that this was going nowhere fast, "We're interns on the case to, like, find Claire and Jackie and we just wanted to, like, talk to Jackie's parents."

"Now, in my day, young ones like you two were busy getting married, not trying to solve crimes like the detectives on 'Law and Order'. Besides, my daughter and Gordon are on their second honeymoon. And I'm not planning on calling them up and ruining such a happy time. Jaclyn's just run off again, I'll bet you! She'll be back by dinner and Miss Claire Roberts'll be at her side, apologizing like there is no tomorrow! I do declare, that girl is far too over-apologetic for her own good. No man'll promise himself to a girl like that. No, indeed! Now, me and Jaclyn's granddaddy, we got married on Midsummer's Eve and-"

By now Edith had turned away from Kitty and Evan and was hurrying after her husband who'd found new prey in the form of a young police officer who was looking utterly bored.

"We should go," Evan groaned, stumbling back until his hand found the door handle, "Why do we always get the crazies?"

"Not crazy, Evan. Those two were like totally insane!"

-----

_.......REVIEW_

a/n;

_.......REVIEW_

- Roby Carr


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